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Its ALIVE!!! Replay TV RTV5504 40 Hr for $149.95 - Replay Maybe Stepping to the Plate

G

grunge09

Junior Member
Update9: 1/7/04 - Read this interesting article from SF Paper Linked Here by Carrie Kirby

Update8: 1/6/04 - Replay Appears to be stepping to the plate on 12/17 ReplayTV DVR Purchases. Read Message Here... Or just goto Replay TV's Website for the "Important Information."

Update7: Replay TV just came out with something official on their site. Linked Here on their Site. They even updated their 5504 page and it no longer states service activation is free.

Update6: Seems a couple of users over on FW are reporting that CC 5504's activated today are getting denied free activation and the pay screen comes up.

Update5: Ripped shamelessly from FW :

"I don't know if it's official or not, but an authorized Replay 55xx retailer (http://www.replaytv.us) has said the following:

As everyone has heard, DNNA has changed its ReplayTV marketing strategy. They have decided to completely unbundle the activation from the RTV5500s. Even the units that are in inventory which are labels "3 year activation included" will be affected. ALL RTV5500 units connected after 12/23 will have NO activation, regardless of how much you paid for the unit.
From this, one can deduce that you had better activate your 5504 IMMEDIATELY if you want this deal to work!"

Update4: If you can find one still at COMPUSA Linked Here for $149.99 "Should" have the green stickers as Circuit City. "Should"

Update3: Price has changed to $450.00 now. Circuit City is still price in update2 but now says a monthly service fee. So far nobody has reported a problem with the activiation.

Update2: Circuit City has the item for $149.99 linked HERE AT CC If there is a problem their return policy should give no problems not a 10 day Amazon wait.

Update1: from Replay TV's Web Site: Linked HERE

================Initial Deal Info===============================

Amazon has this DVR for $124.95 brand new. Goto Amazon.com and search for RTV5504 and it will show up.

Or Linked HERE

Clearly says 3 years FREE SERVICE then $0.99/month increments afterwards. Save the pages in case this is a screw up.

Features:

Pre-activated, with no service fee for 3 years; after 3 years, just $.99 per month
40-hour personal video recorder with theme record for capturing programs based on keywords or themes
Built-in home networking capabilities via Ethernet; no extra costs to network
Pause live-action TV shows, jump back 7 seconds for instant replay, enjoy high-quality slow-motion and fast forward effects
Send programs between ReplayTV units in your home; blaze past annoying ads in 30-second increments with QuickSkip

Technical data

In the box: 1 ReplayTV RTV5504 PVR, 1 remote control, remote batteries, a user's manual, 1 coaxial video cable, 1 composite-video/stereo analog audio interconnect, 1 IR blaster cable, a 9-to-15-pin adapter, an RJH-to-9-pin adapter, an RJ-11 phone cable
Channel-block capability: Yes (and ratings block)
Archiving: Yes
Auto clock set: Yes
Buffer length: Equal to available hard-drive space
Built-in satellite receiver: No
Progressive scan: Yes
Horizontal resolution: Composite- and S-video: 425 lines; progressive-scan component-video: 450 lines
Broadband connectivity: Yes
Video signal-to-noise ratio: 50 dB
Audio frequency response: 20 to 20,000 Hz, +/- 1 dB
Differential gain: Less than 2 percent maximum
Lighted indicators: Yes (network activity and link lights)
Compatibility: Cable, satellite, and antenna programming feeds
Digital photo storage: Yes (through PC connection)
First-run recordings: Yes (records the first broadcast of an episode and ignores repeats)
Closed captioning: Yes
Reception: NTSC broadcast (when hooked up with an antenna)
Fast-forward/rewind: Up to 20x normal speed
Records favorites: Yes
Custom channels: Yes
Advance programming: Yes
Factory reset: Yes
Favorite channel memory: Yes
QuickSkip: Yes (jumps ahead 30 seconds)
Games included: No
Infrared port: Yes
Instant messaging: No
Instant replay time: 7 seconds
Interactive television: No
Internet capability: No
Keyword search: Yes
Theme record: Records programs based on themes or keywords
Screen saver: Yes (with the option for using digital photos as the source)
Hard-drive storage capacity: 40 GB
Maximum recording time: 40 hours
Monthly fee: Yes (after three years you pay a nominal $0.99/month ReplayTV Service fee in 1-, 2-, or 3- year increments)
Movies on demand: No
One-touch recording: Yes
Show extender: Yes (lets you manually extend recording time at the start or end of a program)
Picture-in-picture (PIP): No
Program recommendations: Yes
Number of programs recorded at once: 1
Recording conflict warning: Yes
Serial port: Yes
Ethernet port: Yes (one RJ-45)
Slow motion: Yes
Analog phone jack: Yes (one RJ-11)
Component-video inputs: 0
Component-video outputs: 1
Composite-video inputs: 2
Composite video outputs: 2
Audio inputs: 2 stereo analog (left/right) RCA, 1 optical digital-audio
Audio outputs: 2 stereo analog (left/right) RCA, 1 optical digital-audio
S-video input: 1
S-video output: 1
RF coaxial inputs: 1
RF coaxial outputs: 1
USB port: No
IR blaster: Yes
Universal remote included: No
Web-based control: Yes
Live TV buffering: Yes
Onscreen magazine: Replay Guide with Show Organizer
Pause live TV: Yes
Program information: Yes
Total days of programming: 14 (11 days ahead, 3 days back)
Item length: 14 inches
Item width: 17 inches
Item height: 3.5 inches
Item weight: 12 pounds
Warranty: 1 year parts, 90 days labor
 
can anyone confirm this? would be a smoking deal if its true, the 80hr one is 241$ and says the same thing
 
Posted at FW before here, and they have been discussing it. People have called up ReplayTV and have been told that all the 55XX models come with 3 years service built in.
 
Very tempting....I already have a Tivo, but this is so cheap I might grab it for the bedroom or maybe as another Christmas gift for the parents....ARGH!! I'm going to be soooo broke!
 
I got 3. I've gone from no Xmas gifts to just about done shopping now. Parents are going to love this. I got one for myself as well and will be hooking it up tonight. I'll report back after it's up and running.
 
From reading other forums, some units were shipped with activation before they changed the scheme to separate activation fee. These must be part of that group. (worst case = return)

Hard drive can be switched to higher capacity.

Folks, *this is a deal*, just ordered 2.

Thanks a lot grunge09; I'm saving so much I'm going broke!
 
CC is great about returns here. They really follow the company's 'no questions' rule fairly well. If service isn't included, I'll just return them.
 
You can see the terms on Replay's site: "All 5500 models include a 3-year subscription to the ReplayTV service and can be extended for only $.99 per month." They list the same unit for $499.99.

Also, this can be directly orded from TechDepot (which is where it comes from through Amazon) and if you order more than 1, there's a $20 off $200 coupon floating out there. Just ordered 2 myself. Thanks for the deal.
 
How reliable are these things. I have benn considering getting a DVR after the holidays, but I was thinking of going with Tivo, but this price is sweet.

But reading the user reviews on Cnet, alot of them say it needs reset alot, and sometiems it doesn't download the program guide. ANd the tech support seems horrible. I mean what are the chances that this thing will not record my shows while I am away for a weekend?
 
Does anyone know if its relatively easy to extract video from these across the ethernet connecton? I've got an 80 hour tivo but havent brought myself to hacking it yet, its still too new. This is worth it if the extraction is simple-
 
Anybody know if you can still get the shows off these units with the network connection.
I know that before they were bought out there was a few programs that could download the shows to a computer to burn to a VCD or DVD
is this still the case??

BoorT
 
I am thinking about getting it but I have digital cable so do I hook it before the digital box so it can record channel 1-99 only?
 
looks like it might be a price mistake, it's $454 for me🙁. Oh well, I didn't need to spend the money anyway.

Although if CC has them ...😀
I am thinking about getting it but I have digital cable so do I hook it before the digital box so it can record channel 1-99 only?
Click to expand...
You hook it up after the cable box, then use a serial cable or a little IR cable with the Tivo to change channels on the digital cable box
 
Originally posted by: jor888
I am thinking about getting it but I have digital cable so do I hook it before the digital box so it can record channel 1-99 only?
Click to expand...

It comes with an IR blaster cable which connects the DVR to your cable box and uses the cable box to change channels once you've set it up correctly. Basically, the cable allows the Replay unit to send out an infrared signal to control your cable box as if you were doing it yourself with a remote. Once this is set up, you use the Replay remote to change channels manually.


Does anyone know if the ethernet port allows you to pull the program listings down off the net? Or is a phone call still required? Thanks in advance.
 
Two folks at FW have picked their's up and reported there is a sticker on the box that says, "This Unit includes 3 years of service. $0.99/month after 3 years."
 
Yes, the TV listings are downloaded through the net connection if you have it plugged into your home network. I've never had a phone line plugged directly into mine.

BTW, I've had this since June and love it. I've only had to reset it MAYBE 3-4 times in six months. Grab this at $150 while you can!
 
Replay is switching their pricing to a MONTLY fee JUST like TIVO... the new ones at CC for $149 dont include service.
 
Originally posted by: Dulanic
Replay is switching their pricing to a MONTLY fee JUST like TIVO... the new ones at CC for $149 dont include service.
Click to expand...

It has been confirmed at FW that older stock includes the service. They are changing, but if CC has older stock (which they would have right now), then those include the service. You'll see a sticker on the top that states service is included. One member has allready activated their unit and it was included.
 
Originally posted by: neurotrophik
Does anyone know if its relatively easy to extract video from these across the ethernet connecton? I've got an 80 hour tivo but havent brought myself to hacking it yet, its still too new. This is worth it if the extraction is simple-
Click to expand...
It is very easy to extract video from the ReplayTV. DVArchive was created for this purpose, I believe. The only requirements is that your PC and ReplayTV be networked together (and of course, have ample storage space for the videos).

 
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